Harry and the Weezerbeak Chase
by Pjazz
Summary: Harry is partnered with Cho Chang in the Hogwarts Weezerbeak Chase. Can he suppress his feelings, cope with Draco Malfoy's cheating and still win the contest?


Harry and the Weezerbeak Chase  
  
A Harry Potter fanfic by Pjazz  
  
2003  
  
Ron reckoned it was luck; Hermione preferred the hand of fate. Harry Potter didn't know which of his friends was right, and didn't much care. All he knew was the lottery to choose partners for the Hogwarts School Weezerbeak Chase had paired him with Cho Chang. He was the happiest boy in Hogwarts.  
  
Ron hadn't been as fortunate. His partner was Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl. They had had two furious arguments before even leaving the school building. Hermione had drawn Neville Longbottom. This seemed to please Neville rather more than Hermione, but she said she wasn't that fussed.  
  
The object of the Weezerbeak Chase was to hunt down a single weezerbeak, a cross between a fox and a small scaleless dragon. The whole school assembled in pairs on the Quidditch pitch at noon, broomsticks at their sides. There was a feeling of expectation in the air.  
  
"You all know the rules," said Professor MacGonagall. "First pair to find the weezerbeak, capture it unharmed and return it here wins. Students will share a single broomstick of their choice."  
  
"I haven't got a prayer of winning with her as my partner," said Ron gloomily. But Harry wasn't listening. Cho was tying her long dark hair up in a pony tail. They were all wearing PE kit, shorts and singlets. Cho's legs were especially long amd tan, Harry noticed, while his were pale and bony. Cho shot him a smile. "Ready, Harry? We'll use your broomstick, shall we? A Firebolt is miles better than my old Nimbus."  
  
"Students mount your brooms!"  
  
Cho and Harry mounted the Firebolt. It floated several feet above the ground. Cho's grip round him was light, but for some reason Harry felt short of breath.  
  
"Ready. Set. Go!"  
  
As one, a hundred broomsticks soared into the blue sky. Harry rose straight up, gaining height to better spot the Weezerbeak. Cho's grip tightened at the steepness of their ascent, but now her touch hardly registered. He was flying. In his element. It was as exhilerating as always.  
  
"I don't see the weezerbeak," said Cho, as Harry brought the Firebolt to a standstill hovering 200 feet up in the air. The countryside lay below like a giant green quilt.  
  
"I think it can camouflage itself."  
  
"Then it's hopeless. We'll never find it."  
  
Harry no longer stareed at the ground, instead he looked at the tiny dipersing dots in the sky that were the other Hogwarts students. Where was Hermione? There. Bobbing along with Neville Longbottom. Neither was a particularly good flier. Neville looked terrified, holding on to Hermione for dear life. But poor flier though she may be, Harry knew she was the smartest student in school. If anyone knew the habits of a weezerbeak and it's probable whereabouts she would.  
  
Hermione seemed to be concentrating her search on a large lake ringed by trees. Harry aimed the Firebolt in that direction, careful to keep Hermione's broom in sight as Cho scanned the ground below.  
  
"There it is!" Cho pointed urgently at distant shore. Yes! A small pale green creature was foraging at the waterline. Harry nosed the Firebolt into a dive. Too late, he failed to spot another broomstick coming in fast from his right. Malfoy! And a Slytherin girl he didn't recognise. Harry took evasive action, surprising Cho whose grip loosened and she tumbled helplessly through the air.   
  
Cho fell 50 feet into the centre of the lake. The enormous splash seemed to have scared off the weezerbeak which was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Enjoying your dip, Chang! Why don't you watch where you're going, Potter," roared Malfoy in delight.  
  
Harry glared at his hated rival. But there would time enough to deal with Malfoy later. First Harry had to rescue Cho.  
  
But Cho didn't need rescuing. She was swimming strongly for the shore. Harry coasted down and landed gently on a small beach just as Cho emerged from the lake.  
  
"Brrr! That water's blooming freezing! I hate Malfoy."  
  
Cho's kit was soaked - and alarmingly see-through. She must have sensed this because she brought one arm across her chest while the other brandished her wand.  
  
"Aridatus!" Instantly Cho's kit dried. Harry's pulse slowed to something like normal.  
  
"Do you see the weezerbeak?"  
  
"Er, no. Your, um, splash landing scared it away."  
  
"I'll bet," Cho laughed. "Me and my big bum!"  
  
Harry found he had an almost irristable urge to assure Cho her bum wasn't big at all. But before he could utter a word, Cho pointed at the undergrowth.  
  
"Shush. I think I hear something."  
  
Harry listened. Yes. A definite honking sound, like a wonky vacuum cleaner. No wonder it was called a weezerbeak! Harry gestured at Cho to circle around. They would trap it.  
  
Harry moved cautiously into the bushes. Immediately he saw the weezerbeak. And it saw them. With an angry snort it bounded toward Cho. She saw it coming late and barely had time to bring her wand up. Her spell went wide, ricohetting in a volley of sparks off a tree trunk.  
  
"Stupify!"  
  
Harry's spell caught the weezerbeak broadside on. The weezerbeak collapsed, stunned. It's vicious ugly teeth just inches from Cho's calves.  
  
"Well done, Harry. But it must weigh a ton. How are we going to get it back to school?"  
  
Together they made a harness from creeper vines and dragged the snoring creature to the beach. The y suspended it under the Firebolt. Harry hoped the vines would hold for the journey back.  
  
Flying 100 feet above the lake,the weezerbeak cargo swinging below, Harry oriented the Firebolt for home. Then, out of nowhere, Malfoy hove alongside.  
  
"I'll take that, Potter. Thanks very much." Malfoy grabbed the vines and tugged the weazerbeak toward him.  
  
"Oh no you don't, Malfoy." Harry dived, dragging a startled Malfoy along behind him. At the last minute Malfoy released his grip. But it was too late. He and his Slythrin passenger arrowed straight into the lake, which swallowed them with a bigger splash than Cho's.  
  
But Harry problems weren't over. The weezerbeak was now submerged and threatening to pull them under too. The Firebolt skimmed the lake's surface. Cho's white plimsolls were wrenched from her feet by the drag. Slowly, Harry managed to gain height. But the unexpected soaking had roused the weezerbeak who had woken to find itself sodden wet and trussed like an ovenready turkey. It struggled violently, causing the Firebolt to buck and toss in the air.  
  
Harry's arms ached from keeping the broomstick aloft, while the furious weezerbeak snarled it's defiance beneath them. Finally they hovered over the school Quidditch pitch.  
  
"Well done, Potter. Miss Chang.You're the first to return," said Professor McGonagall, as she and Professor Sprout supervised the safe release of the weezerbeak.  
  
"Oh Harry, we won!" Cho hugged Harry in delight.  
  
"Um, I'm sorry about your plimsolls."  
  
Cho looked down at her bare feet, as if realising for the first time her plimsolls had vanished.  
  
"Oh those smelly old things. Don't worry about it. We won!" Cho hugged him again and this time Harry hugged her back.  
  
A klaxon sounded to announce the end of the chase. The other students trailed in. Malfoy, Harry was pleased to see, last of all. Ron had returned alone, explaining that he had tired of Pansy Parkinson's constant moaning and left her to walk back.  
  
"The results of the Weezerbeak Chase are as follows. The winners - Harry Potter and Cho Chang. 100 points each to Grythfindher and Ravenclaw. And 100 points deducted from Slytherin for Mr Malfoy's unsportsmanlike behaviour."  
  
Everyone cheered apart from the Slytherins, who merely glared sullenly at the celebrations.  
  
All smiles, Harry and Cho held the silver trophy aloft.  
  
"Oh for goodness sake, Potter. Kiss her why don't you," Said Professor McGonagall.  
  
And to Harry's surprise, he did.  
  
***  
  
THE END  
  
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